A stronger and fitter Wootton is ready for his Dons return

Toby Lock

After a year out, Scott Wootton is determined to come back into the MK Dons better than ever.

The 25-year-old feels spending the last nine months in the gym, working on other aspects of his body, honing himself for his comeback, will stand him in great stead when he is called upon by manager Robbie Neilson to pull on his number 5 shirt again.

“I feel stronger. It might take me time to get used to the games again.

“My legs now are so much stronger and my upper body is much stronger too. The strength and power I’ve got now after eight months is great, and hopefully I can take it onto the pitch.”

But while it would be easy to handle Wootton with kid gloves, the man himself wants to make his return on his terms, not rested, but when he is ready and capable of fighting for a starting spot on a level playing field once more.

He said: “I don’t want to come back thinking I can’t play two games in a week because of my knee.

“I want to play every game. I’ll be doing extra training in the gym to make sure I’m as normal as possible. I might have to be cautious initially - I don’t agree with doing all the hard work for nine months to come back and have something flair up. I want to be building gradually.

“But I want to be treated as a normal player, I don’t want to be rested.”